Paramount Skydance has bypassed the Warner Bros Discovery board and taken its bid straight to investors, offering $30 a share in cash for the whole company, including its global networks division. The proposal implies a total value of about $108.4bn (£86bn), compared with the $82.7bn enterprise value attached to the existing Netflix agreement.
In regulatory filings, Paramount stressed that “cash reigns supreme”, arguing its fully funded proposal gives shareholders around $17.6bn more in value than the Netflix package. The bid is backed by commitments from major Wall Street banks and a consortium of investors from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, alongside Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
On Friday, Netflix agreed a $72bn takeover of Warner Bros Discovery’s film and TV studios and streaming businesses, valuing the stock at $27.75 per share in a mix of cash and shares. That deal would hand Netflix control of some of Hollywood’s most valuable franchises, from “Harry Potter” to HBO’s hit series, and carries an enterprise value of about $82.7bn including debt.
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Under the Netflix terms, Warner Bros Discovery’s cable networks, including CNN and TNT, would be spun off into a separate listed company, leaving Netflix focused on studios and streaming. Netflix executives have insisted they remain “very comfortable” with the agreement and have described Paramount’s intervention as “entirely expected”.
Warner Bros Discovery’s board has acknowledged receipt of Paramount’s hostile approach and has pledged to “carefully review and consider” the offer while continuing to back the Netflix agreement for now. The company has said it will update shareholders within ten business days, setting the stage for a high‑stakes battle in Hollywood and on Wall Street.
Both potential tie‑ups are expected to attract intense regulatory scrutiny, with politicians and industry groups already warning that combining Netflix with Warner Bros could create an entertainment powerhouse with more than 400 million streaming subscribers worldwide. Paramount is positioning its rival, all‑cash deal as a cleaner option that avoids what it calls the “regulatory thicket” facing Netflix’s bid.
